Ribbon Grass and Prickly Pear Cactus

All is not quite perfect here at May Dreams Gardens. There are some areas of the garden that have some issues and need some attention.

The first issue is this ribbon grass that I need to get rid of this spring.

This is the 'before' picture from a few weeks ago. It looks a lot worse now since I spent an hour or so raking out a lot of the loose stuff this past weekend.

When I was raking it out, look what I found.
It's an Easter egg.

I think it is from last year's egg hunt but it could be from two years ago. I was all excited when I opened it, hoping it might be a money egg.

But it only had three empty candy wrappers in it, which makes me think it might have been hiding there for two years.

Now I need to dig this ribbon grass out, but it is too wet now, so I'll hold off until later in the spring.

I still can't believe I got suckered into planting this ribbon grass to begin with or that I let it get this far. My only excuse is someone gave me this grass as a passalong plant a few weeks after I had moved in. I had not gardened for awhile and I was vulnerable. I was desparate to plant something, anything, in my new garden, so desparate that I planted ribbon grass.

I do not recommend, nor will I pass along ribbon grass to anyone else unless I know where they are planting it and why.

Another passalong plant that has caused me some real physical pain is this prickly pear cactus (Opuntia). Yes, it's hardy in Indiana.

No, I do not hide Easter eggs in this cactus. That would be mean! This cactus is dangerously loaded with all sizes of pricklies just waiting to stick you if you get too close.

I keep it around because the flowers are pretty and it always surprises people to see cactus in an Indiana garden.

However, this particular patch of cactus has spread further than I would like and I need to cut it back.

A few years ago, I put on my heaviest leather gloves to cut some of this back and the 'pricklies' went right through the gloves and into my hands. Ouch! And the gloves were ruined, too.

My new plan is to cut this back with a sharp hoe and then carefully scoop it up into a bushel basket so I can carry it back to the compost bin. I just have to remind myself to be careful not to grab it or touch it or I'll be sorry. And I need to take it straight back to the compost bin without suffering from a GADS attack along the way.

I will only provide starts of prickly pear cactus after giving a suitable warning to the recipient about planting it well away from where children play and dogs wander. And never hide Easter eggs near it.

When I give away either ribbon grass or prickly pear cactus, I almost think I need to have the recipients sign a waiver releasing me from any blame if the grass gets out of control or the cactus "bites". Sigh, we live in such a litigious society.

Does anyone else have some plants like these in their gardens?